Clothes washing or drying machine with improved controls

ABSTRACT

Clothes washing or drying machine comprising: means for setting and controlling the operating cycle of the machine, response and user information means, means for processing the commands received from said control and setting means. The control and setting means comprise: selection devices associated to specific control variables that can be selected independently from a plurality of different states, and said response means comprise a plurality of user-information display devices, each one of which is adapted to take a respective multiplicity of states, to each one of which there corresponds a particular combination of the states taken by said control variables. Each combination of said plurality of distinct states of said control variables is associated to a pre-determined set of instructions and programmes residing in said data storage means and adapted to act on respective operating devices of the machine.

The present invention refers to an improved kind of clothes washing ordrying machine, preferably of the type intended for use in households,adapted to perform washing or drying cycles that are in a particularmanner intended to adhere to and comply with the user's preferences inas close as possible manner.

While reference is made to a household-type clothes washing machinethroughout the following specification, owing to the particularadvantages of the present invention being most obvious and apparent insuch kind of machine, those skilled in the art will be readily capableof appreciating that the general teaching of the present invention canalso be applied to a clothes drying machine in a very simple mannerthrough just a slight adaptation of the control means.

Clothes washing machines are generally known in the art as being washingappliances that are capable of performing working cycles, i.e. washingprogrammes, in accordance with operating instructions that are enteredeach time by the user.

Such operating instructions are basic, very simple ones, relatinggenerally to those process characteristics or parameters that have adirect influence on or directly affect either the actual performance ofthe machine in terms of ultimate washing or rinsing results (eg. thedegree of soil to be removed from the clothes, the type of fabricsinvolved in the operation, the spin-extraction intensity, and the like)or, more generally, the way in which the machine goes through therequired operating cycle (energy usage, time to complete the cycle, andso on).

This manner of conceiving clothes washing machine is generally known inthe art and adopted universally.

However, clothes washing machines of this kind are not capable ofproviding any indication relating to some of the operating or processparameters that are a consequence of the particular control settings,i.e. the particular commands entered by the user, so that the latter ispractically in a position in which he/she has to set the controls almost“blindly”, in the sense that he/she has to rely solely upon his/herability in setting the controls in a properly accurate manner based onhis/her being more or less familiar with the ways and modes of operationof the machine.

So for instance, if the user regards the clothes in the washload asbeing heavily soiled, or if he/she is of the opinion that the sameclothes in the washload are synthetics rather than woollens, orvice-versa, he/she will set the controls accordingly and the machinewill accurately follow the resulting commands. However, at the presenttime there is no washing machine available that is capable of informingthe user about the effects that are altogether expected to be broughtabout as a result of such commands being so entered. In other words, noinformation is provided to the user about the time needed to completethe selected cycle, the expected energy usage, the required amount ofwater, the final rinsing performance, and the like, or even about apossible inconsistence in the commands entered. For example, aninconsistence may exist if a command is entered for the machine toperform an intensive washing programme at a very low temperature of thewashing liquor, since an intensive washing programme is specificallyintended for use in connection with heavily soiled washloads thatrequire being generally handled with hot water, i.e. at a very hightemperature of the washing liquor.

As a further example that can be cited in this connection is washingwoollens—which is largely known to require a special cycle involvingparticular process parameters—at a very high temperature of the washingliquor, which is certainly not the ideal one for handling woollens.

Still another example relates to the economy of the selected cycle. Inother words, a given washing result on a given washload may be obtainedboth with a prolonged washing cycle performed at a low temperature andwith a quicker, shorter washing cycle performed at a much highertemperature and, therefore, at a much higher cost. However, the abilityto select in a proper manner in such case is by no means unimportant,since the user might be in a position as to decide to select either oneor the other of these cycles depending on his/her own particularpreference and the particular circumstances existing at the moment; forexample, under normal circumstances a user is quite likely to decide toselect the most economic one between the two cycle options, whereas thequickest, i.e. shortest cycle would be the preferred option in certainother cases, notwithstanding the higher cost penalty.

Briefly, there is practically no way for a user to know in advance whichresult his/her settings for the selection of a given washing cycle willproduce, actually. Therefore, he/she is practically given no judgmentpossibility at all to tell in advance whether the result that is goingto be obtained through a particular cycle setting will actually be thebest possible one in view of the priorities he/she wishes to comply withat that particular moment. In other words, there is practically no wayfor a user to appropriately alter or modify cycle settings so as tointroduce an optimising effect in those performance results and thoseoperating parameters and conditions that are the preferred ones in thatparticular moment and under the particular circumstances, whileconsciously “sacrificing” other possible results.

In view of improving this limiting situation, the washing machines ofthe so-called “input system”, i.e. provided with dialogue-basedelectronic control systems, have in the meantime been introduced by theappliance industry.

In all cases, these are machines that are designed so as to enable theuser to set and enter not only the final process parameters of themachine (eg. the spin-extraction speed, the washing temperature, thetype of clothes in the washload, and so on), but also some additionalinformation which—as appropriately processed by the control unit of themachine—contributes to a more accurate definition of the washing cycleto be performed.

Machines of this kind can certainly be considered as a significantimprovement, since they actually enable the user to at least partlydefine the desired priorities. However, it must be stressed that, evenin this case, the user fails to be appropriately informed in advance onwhich effects his/her settings or selections will actually bring about,i.e. which results can ultimately be expected from the particularselection made by him/her, so that he/she is practically unable tointervene in order to modify the settings accordingly, in the case thatthese turn out to be inappropriate in view of his/her preferences,priorities or requirements at that particular moment.

It would therefore be desirable, and it is actually a main object of thepresent invention, to provide a clothes washing machine that is able notonly to be entered and receive information of a functional natureconcerning some main parameters and conditions of the washing process,but also to process said information so as to provide the user—prior tostarting the washing cycle—an information feedback concerning:

the specific washing performance

and also the characteristics and parameters of the washing cycleexpected as a result of the whole set of inputs entered by the user.

Therefore, should the user decide that the information processed by themachine—and provided to him/her prior to he washing cycle beingstarted—fail to fully comply with his/her own requirements, or anywayallow for some improvement to be introduced, he/she is able to modifyall or part of the inputs entered until an operating cycle or programmeis eventually defined, which more effectively fits his/her ownpreferences or reaches the best possible compromise among the variousperformance options.

According to the present invention, these and further aims are reachedin a particular kind of clothes washing machine provided with operatingand control means as described below by way of non-limiting example withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an overall, exemplary overview of the various variables andthe states which each one of such variables can take;

FIG. 2 is a schematical view of a logical and symbolical flow-diagram ofthe operating mode of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematical view of a logical and symbolical flow-diagram ofan improved operating mode of the present invention.

The following discussion, although referred to a generally applyingcase, is used to also theoretically underpin the principles which thepresent invention is based on.

A clothes washing machine according to the present invention comprises aplurality of variables that can be commanded, i.e. controlled in avariety of manners so as to take different, independently selectablestates. The variables that will be considered here are the informationpieces entered by the user concerning both the characteristics andproperties of the clothes loaded in the machine for washing and someoperating modes and parameters of the machine itself.

These variably mainly, although not solely, include:

1) the type of fabrics

2) the type of washing process to be performed

3) the spin-extraction intensity (speed)

4) the washing temperature

5) the amount of water to be used

6) (further variable)

- . . .

n) (any other variable)

There are therefore “n” possible variables altogether that areconsidered here as being freely commanded, i.e. controlled into takingrespective “values”, which—for reasons of greater simplicity and inorder to be consistent with the technical parlance used instatistics—shall be termed “states” here.

In fact, as this shall be seen at a later point in this description, notall variables can actually be commanded, i.e. controlled in anindependent manner. This circumstance, however, will be better explainedand defined further on.

Each one of said “n” variables is able to take a respective number of 6,states as commanded by the user. For instance, the variable “1) type offabrics” can take following states corresponding to the different natureof the fabrics constituting the washload:

1A) White fabrics

1B) Coloured fabrics

1C) Synthetics

1D) Acrylics

1E) Woollens

1F) Silkens

1G) Special fabrics

The variable “2) Type of washing process to be performed” can beselected according to one of following distinct states:

2A) Intensive cycle, incl. pre-wash

2B) Vigorous cycle

2C) Economy or low-usage cycle

2D) Regular cycle

2E) Short cycle

2F) Mini (very short) cycle

---) etc.

m) (any further variable)

FIG. 1 gives a general, although by no way limiting overview of thevarious variables and the related states, which each one of suchvariables can take.

These commands needed to select a given state for each variable can ofcourse be materially embodied and entered using means that are largelyknown as such in the art, such as push-buttons, rotary multi-settingselector switches, linear position controls, and the like. However, theway in which said selected states are actually set or entered is of norelevance to the purposes of the present invention.

Altogether, if H is the number of the variables, and if each variablecan take a respective number of states K_(h), then the number of thevarious possible combinations will be:C=(k1)×(k2)×(k3)× . . . (kn)where:

k1 is the number of possible states of the first variable,

k2 is the number of possible states of the second variable,

- . . .

kh is the number of possible states of the H^(th) variable, and whereinC indicates the number of said possible combinations.

Each control for each state of each variable is connected to a centralcontrol, storage and processing unit (not shown) that is adapted toperform an identification of each combination being set, i.e. selectedby the user through the controls commanding said variables.

Upon having so selected the desired settings for the states of thevarious variables, said control unit identifies which one among the Cpossible combinations has been selected.

This identification and recognition process can be most easily becarried out using largely known data processing techniques and means.

The above-mentioned control, storage and processing unit is alsoprovided with a memory, in which there are stored C groups or sets ofdistinct data.

Each one of these groups or sets of data comprises all machineinstruction statements (parameters) that must be used by a commonoperating programme to carry out a distinct washing cycle.

Each one of these groups or sets of data further comprises, eg. in aseparate storage register, a respective one of said combinations C.

From a logic point of view, the operations that are carried out areshown schematically in FIG. 2, where only the first tw blocks and thelast two ones, i.e. IF and START, are actuated, set or controlled by theuser by selecting the states of each variable (in other words, the usertells the machine what he/she prefers), whereas the following blocks areautomatically executed by the machine.

In practice, operations take place as follows:

in the first block 1, the user sets one or more desired states referringto respective ones among the cited variables, such as type of fabrics,kind of washing process, spin-extraction speed, and the like;

in the second block 2, which is indicated as INPUT, upon havingcompleted the above-noted selection, the user enters—with the help ofgenerally known, conventional means—an appropriate command that is readby the machine as an information that the preceding selection step iscomplete and it must therefore switch over to the subsequent processingstep;

in the following third block 3, upon said control, storage andprocessing unit having duly identified—through easily performed and perse known comparison and selection techniques of the <IF> and <AND>type—the particular combination of commands and, as a result, processvariables selected by the user, the same unit goes on to associate to ageneral washing programme those instructions that are contained in thespecidic group or set of data corresponding to the so selected andacknowledged combination.

All it takes at this point is to select—eg. on the basis of commonlaboratory experimental methods—the machine instruction statements(machine operating parameters) which, when imported and executed by awashing programme of a general type, but pre-arranged so as to becapable of importing said machine instruction statements (machineoperating parameters), will enable the same washing programme to betuned up and integrated to include all data and instructions required toallow it to fully and optimally adhere to the particular processconditions selected by the user in accordance with his/her preferences;

in the following fourth block 4, the invention is completed withfollowing functions and devices: each one of the above-mentioned groupsor sets of data includes—further to the afore-defined machineinstructions—also a second set of data, which shall be referred to asuser data hereinafter (and which are referred to as “responses” in theappended claims). These user data are contained in appropriate storageregisters associated to respective combinations, and provide respectiveinformation concerning the operating modes of the machine.

These modes of operation of the machine involve information on data andfacts that most of all are of interest to the user, since they refer forinstance to such indications as time required to complete the washingcycle, type of washing process to be run, energy usage, water usage, andthe like.

The above-mentioned processing and control unit is also adapted toselect and retrieve—in a way that is fully similar to the one used toselect and retrieve the afore cited machine instructions, and upon theuser having duly selected the various states of the variables—said userdata, as well as transfer them onto appropriate display means for dueuser information.

With an appropriate selection of said user data for each one of thecombinations that can be set, it will in this way be possible for theuser to be informed in a practically immediate manner on some of themost interesting consequences of any selection that he/she may just havemade by setting corresponding controls.

If, however, the results of the selections being so entered by the userwould for any reason whatsoever be found as not being acceptable, thepossibility is given for the just entered cycle settings to be cancelledand a new group of settings to be entered for real-time processing bysaid unit, exactly as this occurred in the case of the preceding one.

With reference to the IF block, if the result is accepted by the user,the latter can confirm the settings entered by him/her by actuating aproper control 5 provided on the machine; otherwise, even these settingscan be cancelled and the above-described procedure can be gone throughiteratively.

The controls used to cancel the settings entered by the user, or toconfirm them (INPUT block), may be of a fully conventional kind, so thatthey shall not be described any further here.

It is fully within the ability of those skilled in the art to readilyappreciate that other logic-type and data-processing modes are possiblein view of performing the above-described procedures of recognition ofthe entered commands and selection of the related groups or sets ofinstructions; the above-illustrated example has solely been given to thepurpose of illustrating a working method that is simple and easilyunderstood by those skilled in the art.

Briefly, it can be stated that the present invention is essentiallybased on the capability provided by said control, processing and storageunit of converting the information concerning each single combination ofuser-set states into a corresponding—since recognized as such—group orset of machine instruction statements (machine operation parameters) tobe used in the washing cycle.

The present invention allows for a number of further improvements to beembodied: in fact, the user can set one or more states of respectivevariables, but may intentionally decide to avoid considering othervariables, simply because he/she is not interested in defining specificpreferences or priorities in connection therewith.

In this case, the above-mentioned control, processing and storage unitis provided with standard default instructions, which are acquired asmachine instruction statements (machine operation parameters) instead ofthe definition of the state(s) of the variable(s) that the user failedto define, and the procedure then goes on in the same way as illustratedabove.

The command informing the machine to go on with the above-specifiedprocedure even in the absence of a proper definition of the state foreach variable, may be entered by using the same INPUT control asindicated above.

A further, advantageous improvement is allowed for by the presentinvention to cater for a particular circumstance; it must be in factconsidered that—not only in theory, but also in practice—it may wellhappen that not all states that can be set by the user for the variousvariables turn necessarily out as being compatible with each other; as amatter of fact, it may occur that some settings turn out as clashingwith each other, i.e. contradicting each other. This would for instancebe the case when the information entered concerning the type of fabricsis WOOLLENS, while the information entered concerning the kind ofspin-extraction to be performed is STRONG: woollens are largely known tobe unadvisable for spin-extraction, under the penalty of heavy feltingand shrinking effects. Another case in point would be the one arisingwhen a washing cycle of the “INTENSIVE WITH PRE-WASH”-type is selectedalong with a washing temperature set on COLD.

Now, this further improvement enables such incorrect or unsafe operatingmodes to be unfailingly and automatically prevented from being executedeven if the user happens to accidentally or unintentionally set therelated states.

Obviously it is fully possible for such mutually clashing settings to beselected in connection with any desired programme, since these are infact included in the totality of possible combinations.

The above-mentioned improvement consists in ensuring that, whenever anyof such “impossible” combinations is selected, the machine instructionstatements (parameters) corresponding to these particular combinationare programmed to process and work out the condition of impossibilityfor any viable washing cycle to be performed, and the correspondinginformation is conveyed outside for the benefit of the user by means ofappropriate, possibly visual display or warning means.

It will be also appreciated that, in these cases, the machine may alsobe programmed so as to automatically stop, and switch over to acondition in which it is unable to perform any cycle at all, until a newcombination of states concerning respective variables, and pre-definedas “acceptable”, is eventually set and entered.

A still further improvement can be easily embodied in the following way:with reference to FIG. 3, this can be noticed to describe a quickeroperating mode for selecting the various combinations and operationoptions and being immediately capable of taking notice of the “expected”result of such selection as processed out by the machine.

In the first block 11, there is again performed a selection of thestates of the respective variables, as this has already been set forthwith reference to FIG. 1. The next, i.e. second block does however nolonger represent an INPUT-type command to activate the machine, which ison the contrary provided with automatic processing means adapted to bereadily activated by the simple command relating to the selection of thestates of respective variables, even when just a single state isselected.

In practice, whenever a selection of said states is actuated, themachine automatically processes the related command and, on the basis ofpreviously entered selections or, if no selection has already beenentered, on the basis of the afore-mentioned default selections, worksout a result that is automatically displayed as user data 12, in asimilar manner as in the afore considered case, however with thedifference that, in this case, owing to the fact that the selection dataare processed on a real-time basis, the man-machine dialogue, i.e. thedialogue between the user and the machine is a continuous and immediateone.

In good substance, the user proposes his/her own preferred selectionsand, each time that a selection is entered, the machine immediatelyprocesses the related command and responses in an equally immediatemanner by proposing the respective user data.

When the user eventually identifies an acceptable or preferred solution,he/she stops entering new selections and sends in a START command—in asimilar manner as already seen in connection with the previouslyconsidered case—so as to instruct the machine to start the washing cycleaccording to the last selection entered.

A decisive advantage deriving from such solution lies in the fact thatthe user is given the possibility of checking and accepting the resultsof his/her selections as soon as they are entered individually, i.e.before a cycle start command is eventually entered.

Fully apparent from the above considerations is therefore thesignificant advantage offered by the present invention: it in factenables the user to really dialogue with the machine by asking it aboutthe various operating possibilities and options available in response tovarious situations or requirements proposed by the user and,conclusively, selecting the option that he/she finds to lie closer tohis/her preferences. This most effectively does away with the hithertounavoidable drawback of having to activate washing programmes “blindly”,i.e. based solely on simple instructions entered by the user, with justa rough estimate of the final result of such selections.

To merely illustrative purposes, a demonstrative example of an operatingmode is given below:

1^(st) Setting

Fabrics=Coloured

Washing process=Vigorous

Spin-extraction=Normal spinning

The machine in turn proposes a cycle involving:

Temperature=60° C.

Water usage=42 litres

with following performance data:

Washing action: Normally soiled (Normal dirty)

Energy usage=Low

Duration=120 min.

Rinsing performance=Sufficient

The user is not satisfied with the proposed option, since he/she hasjust a small amount of clothes to wash and not much time available, sothat he/she wishes to reduce the duration of the washing programme.

Accordingly, he/she then changes the kind of washing action desired andselects:

2^(nd) Setting

Washing process=Short

In this case, the machine will propose a 60-min. washing cycle with aslightly higher water usage (in view of making rinses shorter), whilethe performance data change as follows:

Washing action: Slightly soiled (the washing perfomance is scaled downto a lower class: less washing action)

Energy usage=Normal (energy usage is scaled up to a higher class: moreenergy used)

Duration=Short

Rinsing performance=Sufficient (although the amount of water isincreased, the rinsing performance will be not better than sufficient,since time is too short)

However, the user still feels that this does not really meet his/herexpectations, since he/she desires a more effective rinsing performance.He/she then selects:

3^(rd) Setting

Water usage=Abundant

In this case, the machine will answer by proposing a 70-min. washingcycle with a water usage of 70 litres and following performance data:

Washing action: Slightly soiled

Energy usage=Normal

Duration=Short

Rinsing performance=Good (rinsing performance is scaled up to theimmediately higher class)

At this point, it will be also readily appreciated that the presentinvention is fully applicable to other laundry machines, such as clothesdryers, provided that the variables and the related states being set orselected refer to programming modes and schemes that are typical ofthese machines (eg. type and amount of clothes in the drying load, finalmoisture content or degree of dryness desired, and so on). In the sameway, the corresponding user data will be such as to generate indicationsthat are effective in enabling the user to come to an appropriate finalselection of the instructions to be entered, eg. the time required tocomplete the cycle, the energy usage, and the like).

1. Clothes washing or drying machine, preferably of the type intendedfor use in households, comprising: means for setting and controlling theoperating cycle of the machine, response means adapted to generate userdata and information generating means, means for processing the signalsand commands received from said control and setting means, and datastorage means, characterized is that said control and setting meanscomprise: selection devices, each one of which: is associated to aspecific control variable (H), which can be selected independently froma plurality of different states (K_(h)) that each such variable iscapable of taking independently, and said response means comprise aplurality of user information display devices, each one of which isadapted to take a respective multiplicity of states, and to each one ofwhich there corresponds, even in a not-biunique relationship, aparticular combination of the states taken by said control variables(H).
 2. Clothes washing or drying machine according to claim 1,characterized in that each combination of said plurality of distinctstates (Kh) of said control variables is associated to a pre-determinedset of instructions and programmes residing in said data storage meansand adapted to act on respective operating devices of the machine. 3.Clothes washing or drying machine according to claim 2, characterized inthat if any of said selection devices associated to respective controlvariables (H) fail to be set by the user to select any state whatsoever,then the respective control variables are set automatically on apre-determined default state.
 4. Clothes washing or drying machineaccording to claim 2, characterized in that the processing function ofthe states of said control variables (H), as set through said selectiondevices, is started by the actuation of an appropriate control (INPUT)actuated by the user.
 5. Clothes washing or drying machine according toclaim 2, characterized in that the processing function of the states ofsaid control variables (H), as set through said selection devices, isstarted automatically each time that any one of said states ofrespective control variables is selected.
 6. Clothes washing or dryingmachine according to claim 1, characterized in that there is provided asub-set of pre-determined “impossible” combinations of the states of amultiplicity of said control variables (H), and that all such“impossible” combinations in said sub-set are associated to a singleinstruction to which there corresponds a command to stop the machine orinterdict the machine from starting any washing cycle whatsoever. 7.Clothes washing or drying machine according to claim 6, characterized inthat when any one of said “impossible” combinations is selected, themachine automatically transmits an appropriate information and/or alarmsignal outside.
 8. Clothes washing or drying machine according to claim1, characterized in that said control variables (H) comprise two or moreof following variables: type of fabrics in the washload kind of washingaction spin-extraction speed temperature of the washing liquor amount ofwater to be used.
 9. Clothes washing or drying machine according toclaim 1, characterized in that said user data (U_(d)) and saidinformation generating means provide information relating two or more offollowing programmed performance conditions: type of washing processenergy usage duration of washing cycle rinsing performance water usage.